A slytherin after all?
by severus394
Summary: Emilia's (OFC) family has been forced into hiding after the Dark Lord's return, while she will be going to Hogwarts for the first time to finish her magical education under a new identity. Until the term starts she will be under the protection of a certain wizard that is into potion making as much as she is. Reviews & suggestions welcome :) New chapters will be added regularly!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- **An old teacup that lead to a tall wizard**

"Tea is ready, Emilia!" Came the voice of her mother, thickly coated in her Spanish accent, from the kitchen.

"I'm coming". Emilia finished fixing her hair and came down the stairs two at a time like she usually did. She wasn't surprised to see her parents had already left, the remains of the bright green flames produced by the floo powder still visible in the fireplace. What caught her attention was the old yellow teacup her mum had served her morning tea in, as opposed to the usual mug she used. At that instant said mug flashed bright blue an Emilia instinctively reached out for it as the kitchen around her started to blur. The last thought to cross her mind before she felt the floor under her feet disappear was "Thank god I decided to get dressed before coming down for breakfast!"

XXX

The tall wizard was looking at his watch, _any time now_ … THUMP!

A young witch, about 17 with long brown hair just landed a few feet away from her, holding a tattered looking teacup that had spilled most of it's content down the front of her muggle clothes. He lowered his wand, pleased that the portkey had worked and stood up to greet the young witch he had been assigned to protect.

XXX

Luckily Emilia had realised the teacup was a portkey, and as she had used a few before, she managed not to fall over when she arrived at her destination. The room she landed in was slightly dark with an expensive look to it. "The Ministry" She muttered, before noticing the dark figure that stood to greet her.

"Emilia, I apologize for the way in which he have summoned you. it is essential for this operation to be carried out with..upmost secrecy". The wizard turned out to be a tall pale man with black shoulder length hair and piercing onyx eyes. "Your parents have been relocated and put under new identities as planned. Those identities will remain unknown, even from you, to minimise the possibility of them getting into the hands of the Dark Lord.I have been given the order to protect and look after you until you begin your school year at Hogwarts on the first of september"

Emilia listened to the mans low, almost whisper-like voice with stoic passiveness. Her parents were mugglelovers that had been removed from both her mothers and fathers families, they were also active muggle-supporter and anti-dark art campaigners. That set them up quite high on the list of people lord Voldemort wished to get rid of. So after the rumours of the return of the Dark Lord were confirmed, her parents had talked to her about how they would have to go into hiding before the school year started. Emilia, in turn, would have to go to Hogwarts school to do her last year of magical training and take her NEWTs, as carrying on with her homeschooling would obviously be impossible under those circumstances.

"I am afraid we cannot stay here long, the dark lord has ears everywhere and the ministry is no longer a safe place to talk of such things." He then extended his arm, Emilia grasped what that meant straight away and placed her right hand firmly on it.

XXX

They apparated to a dark alley in a small muggle village "As I said before, we cannot be too careful, so we will be walking the rest of the way". He then made a quick wand motion that turned his black robe and cloak into a suit and coat of the same colour. "Luckily you are already wearing muggle clothing" He noted.

They soon reached their destination; a small and slightly dated brick house. Inside there was a small sitting room that had an air of neglect to it. Emilia, on the other hand, didn't fail to notice the sheer amount of books and potions ingredients that cold be found around the place. That brought a smile to her lips; literature and potion making were, after all, her two favourite things.

She then realised the man hadn't introduced himself. "My apologies. I am Severus Snape, although when the term starts you would better call me Professor Snape"

...

A note from the writer: Information as to who Emilia's parents are and their background stories will appear in coming chapters, so don't worry if you are feeling a bit confused.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

XXX

Severus had found the girl to be extremely mature by the way she had handled the situation earlier that day. After he showed her the room where she would be staying in for the next two weeks she hadn't come downstairs, but he assumed she was just tired, which was perfectly fine with him. He couldn't think of anything he would want less than a blabbering teenager at the moment.

Just then the living room door opened and Emilia shyly stepped in.

"Eh…excuse me, Severus. But, could you lend me a few lemongrass pods, please?" "I promise I'll pay you back as soon as I can. It's just that I've lost my potions kit and…" Her voice trailed off and she looked at the professor expectantly with her deep chocolate-brown eyes.

"And what, if I may ask, do you plan on making with them, Emilia?" He inquired with a note of mockery in his voice.

Emilia told him she needed them to brew a Pepper up potion for her sore throat.

"Pepper up potion is an advanced potion to just "fix-up", Emilia. Most trained wizards and witches don't bother and just buy the stuff" He answered.

"Yes, but I find mine works for longer. Plus, I have already got the hang of it; I've been brewing my on for more than two years now"

Emilia didn't fail to notice the flicker of amusement that crossed his eyes, but his face stayed as unexpressive as it had been since they met.

"Could I keep a sample of it when you are done?"

"It would be my pleasure, Severus"

It had been years since anyone had said his name with a smile that wasn't a mocking one. Severus found his lips curving faintly, mirroring hers. He stopped himself before she could notice.

XXX

The potion had been perfect, and Severus seemed to have found someone with the same talent for potions that he had had at her age. They brewed various potions together and there didn't appear to be any that was too complicated for the young which to follow.

"My parents stopped teaching me potion making when I was 14. By then I could brew any potion they could. I've since bought a few books on the subject and just taught myself!"

The Potions Master found he actually enjoyed spending time with her, something he didn't imagine could be possible with a student.

One night after their usual chess game, Severus asked the young witch how much she actually knew about Hogwarts.

"Well, my dad studied there but my mum was homeschooled like most Spanish wizarding families"

That much he was aware of. After the Spanish Inquisition not many wizarding families were left in the country, too few to have their own school, so their children were homeschooled or sent to either Hogwarts or Beauxbatons.

"I know the students are sorted into 4 houses; everyone on my fathers side of the family has always been sorted into Slytherin. I think the bad blood between them and my father started when he was named a Hufflepuff…"

Emilia's father came from an ancient line of pureblood wizards, closely involved in the dark arts since the very beginning. They had disowned her father after he married a Spanish muggle-lover and went to live with her.

"I don't know how he would feel about me if I were sorted into Slytherin. But with the amount of Slytherin blood in me I'll probably end up in that house."

Severus could see tears were building up in her eyes. He knew the sorting was a big deal in ancient families and that children sorted into other houses were often removed from the family. He realised this was the first time they had spoken about her family. All their other conversations this past week had been around potions or books.

"Emilia Malfoy, the house you are sorted into doesn't determine the kind of wizard you will turn out to be. And houses don't run in family blood, your father most of all should know. You have the mind of a Ravenclaw, the heart of a Hufflepuff, the bravery of a Gryffindor and the ambition of a Slytherin, whichever house you are eventually sorted into will have earned a great young witch."

Severus was surprised how naturally those words had flown out of his mouth. Over the past week Emilia had shown him her good heart and never judged him for being a Slytherin. She knew when to speak and when the professor would rather share her company in silence. Snape felt that they had bonded in a way that he hadn't bonded with anyone before; he felt an almost fatherly instinct to protect and reassure her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Se can't arrive on the Hogwarts express, Severus. She hasn't even been sorted yet! There will be too many questions about where she comes from and why she hasn't been to Hogwarts before"

"Well she will have to answer those questions sooner or later, Minerva."

"The fewer people see her getting on that train the better. For all we know the Malfoy's could recognise her at King's Cross"

"Her father was Lucius' second cousin. For all we now they probably don't even know she exists!"

Severus noticed the light tapping sound of Emilia's feet coming down the stairs. "We can't be too careful, Severus"

By the time Emilia walked into the room Minerva's face had disappeared into the red embers in the fireplace.

"Ready?" Asked the wizard, motioning his right arm towards her. This time Emilia held on to it a little tighter.

XXX

Emilia had never seen so many witches and wizards together. In Diagon Alley nobody hid the fact that they were magical; cloaks, pointy hats, cauldrons and broomsticks could be spotted all over the place. Emilia noticed her muggle clothes were attracting a few suspicious looks. Their first stop was at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where Emilia would buy her first-ever robes.

"Lift your arm up, dear" Said the plump which while pinning the sides of her school robes. "That´s it! Now, what colour did you tell me you wanted your dress robes to be? Pink, wasn't it?"

"Well, I had thought off something more..er..subttle"

When Severus re-entered the shop after a visit to Flourish and Blotts he found Madam Malkin trying to sell a bright pink travelling cloak and turquoise robes to Emilia. He was pleased to see she preferred the black and burgundy ones.

"Are you sure you prefer those, dear? They are ever-so dark!" Said a disappointed looking Malkin, in the last attempt to convince the young girl.

"Absolutely positive, thank you" Severus couldn't fail to notice how well the new robes suited her.

Their next stop was, of course, Slug & Jiggers Apothecary, where they spent almost an hour stocking up their potions kit and ingredients.

"Before I forget, here! I told you I'd pay you back" Emilia said with a smile while she pressed four lemongrass pods into Severus' palm.

The professor almost shuddered at the touch of her warm hand but quickly composed himself and managed to mutter a "Thank you" before turning around and scolding himself for blushing at such a stupid thing. She would, after all, be a student of his in less than a weeks time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for following my story, it means the world to me! xx**

 **...**

Chapter 4

It was their last evening at Spinners End. Severus was climbing the stairs to his bedroom when he heard the muffled sobs coming from Emilia's bedroom. It was not the first time he had heard her cry, but the previous times he had just quietly snuck into his bedroom and pretended not to have noticed. This time something was different. He knew, better than anyone, what crying yourself to sleep every night felt like, with the door slightly ajar, wishing that someone would come and comfort you. That night, Severus decided to do so.

"Emilia?" He poked his head around the opened door. He saw her sat on her bed, the book she was reading forgotten to one side and clutching a small photograph in her trembling hands.

"Oh! Sorry Severus, I was just…" Se said trying to compose herself when her eyes were refilled with new tears.

"Its OK, Emilia. Would you care for a cup of cocoa?"

XXX

When he re-entered the room carrying the two steaming cups Emilia had wiped the tears from her face and was wearing an oversized sweater. Holding her cup by the sleeves she opened up to Severus.

"It is just not knowing where they are, whether they are alive or…or not. And I know it is safer this way, but it's just…it's so _hard!_ " Tears crept in to her eyes again, she blinked and sipped at her cocoa.

"I'm afraid you can't do anything about that it, Emilia. You have to to trust Dumbledore will do the right thing and that he will keep them safe. I know how hard that is, I've been trough the same myself, but there really is no other way." Memories of a summer some 15 years back flashed through Severus' mind. How useless he felt, knowing that the fate of his most loved was in someone else's hands and he could do nothing to save them. "The less you know, the safer they remain"

He saw the book she had with her, it was from his own muggle literature collection..

"I see you take my recommendations seriously." He said nodding towards the book at her feet.

"Yes, well, I kept trying to read it but every time it mentioned Spain, my eyes filled up…"

Severus took the book in his hands, sat on the armchair next to her bed, and started reading the book he almost knew by heart with his low- whispering voice: " _The stooping figure of my mother, waist deep in the grass and caught there like a piece of sheep's wool…_ "

He read Laurie Lee's words to her, until her breath was slow and steady and his eyelids where closing, begging for sleep.

XXX

Severus couldn't believe how quickly the last two weeks had flown by, was it really the first of september?. As he came down the stairs he noticed a certain smell in the air. _Bacon?_ he wondered. He was greeted by Emilia's radiant smile and a breakfast comparable to the ones served at Hogwarts laid on his kitchen table .

"I thought I'd cook you breakfast, as it's my last day here, but I wasn't sure what you wanted, so…I kind of made a little bit of everything."

Severus' black eyes traveled from the fried eggs to the croissants to the sausages to the scones and at last to Emilia's own. He came to the realisation that no one (except the house elves at Hogwarts) had ever cooked breakfast for him. He was really going to miss her.

"Er…Thank you, Emilia. It truly wasn't necessary. I'm just doing my job."

XXx

Emilia's stomach tightened a little, she had come to believe Severus' attitude towards her was more than merely dutiful. After last night, she felt she actually meant something to him. These two weeks of potion making and reading had lead from polite smalltalk to actual deep conversation. She had come to actually like the company of the sarcastic, grumpy, cold man Severus could seem to be. She felt she was more than pure duty to him, that his actions had something more to them than the ones carried out just to "do their job". But clearly, she was wrong.

XXX

Severus noticed the change in her eyes, and hated himself for not being able to own up to his real feelings. He changed the subject, hoping that would make the young witch feel better.

"We will be leaving for Hogwarts at 4:30 this afternoon. I hope you are familiar with the functioning of the Floo network?"

….

The muggle novel mentioned and quoted is "As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning" by Laurie Lee.


End file.
